Synonym Chooser

How does the adjective churlish differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of churlish are boorish, clownish, and loutish. While all these words mean "uncouth in manners or appearance," churlish suggests surliness, unresponsiveness, and ungraciousness.

churlish remarks

When can boorish be used instead of churlish?

Although the words boorish and churlish have much in common, boorish implies rudeness of manner due to insensitiveness to others' feelings and unwillingness to be agreeable.

a drunk's boorish behavior

When might clownish be a better fit than churlish?

In some situations, the words clownish and churlish are roughly equivalent. However, clownish suggests ill-bred awkwardness, ignorance or stupidity, ungainliness, and often a propensity for absurd antics.

an adolescent's clownish conduct

In what contexts can loutish take the place of churlish?

The synonyms loutish and churlish are sometimes interchangeable, but loutish implies bodily awkwardness together with stupidity.

a loutish oaf

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of churlish And churlish is exactly how Trump wants to portray him. Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review, 19 Jan. 2024 In fact, one of the clips from Trump’s speech on Saturday which got the most coverage was his mockery of Biden’s stutter: a churlish—and, no doubt, premeditated—slur. Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 14 Mar. 2024 Players might be more accepting of dressing in a crowded locker room or answering questions on behalf of a player who speaks infrequently if the responsible party is someone like Ohtani than, say, the notoriously churlish Bonds. Dylan Hernández, Los Angeles Times, 15 Feb. 2024 The victor certainly isn’t Capote, who dissipates the good will of his ex-boyfriend Jack Dunphy (Joe Mantello) with his descent into alcoholism and deliberately courts beatings from his churlish lover John O’Shea (Russell Tovey) with his sharp tongue. Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 1 Feb. 2024 See All Example Sentences for churlish
Recent Examples of Synonyms for churlish
Adjective
  • Lead defense attorney Arthur Aidala had claimed their testimony made his client seem so boorish that jurors were all but certain to vote guilty.
    Victoria Bekiempis, Vulture, 15 Apr. 2025
  • Delaney manages neighbor guy’s evolution from boorish slob to kind-hearted lover with ease, and Hoffman radiates a cool charisma as G. Sissy Spacek is predictably wonderful as Molly’s mother Gail, whose guilt over her daughter’s molestation led to a years-long estrangement.
    Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 27 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s wheelchair was famously hidden from the public, though his ailment was not necessarily a secret, just considered uncouth to talk about.
    Haisten Willis, The Washington Examiner, 12 Apr. 2025
  • Bell, a Ritchie regular, offers an uncouth but equally menacing counterpoint to Brosnan, a mobster who isn’t pretending that he’s crawled out of the muck.
    Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 28 Mar. 2025
Adjective
  • Even Lochlan and Piper, who think of themselves as more enlightened than their loutish brother and materialistic parents, have a lot of Victoria in them.
    Noel Murray, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2025
  • Every great festival lineup needs an eccentric art-pop groundbreaker and some loutish guys who write anthems.
    Al Shipley, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024
Adjective
  • Friendships built on insecurity, where men constantly have to prove their manhood, are a breeding ground for toxic attitudes and stupid decision-making.
    Terry Ward, CNN Money, 13 Apr. 2025
  • Also, his team told him over the radio, basically, don’t do anything stupid, Nato is going to be penalized for not using all his Attack Mode.
    David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 12 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • But Victor leans less into clownish mortification than her predecessors, making room instead for a delicate quietude and sincerity.
    Jon Frosch, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
  • Redheads often fielded comments related to having a hot temper, being clownish, weirdness, Irishness, not capable of being in the sun, being wild (among women), wimpy (among men), and intellectually superior.
    David Faris, Newsweek, 19 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • But, for not a single D to stand to applaud a boy's brave battle with cancer, or a man's admission to West Point, was a classless disgrace.
    Russel Honoré, Newsweek, 5 Mar. 2025
  • Communism, on the other hand, advocates for a classless society where all property is communally owned.
    H. Sami Karaca, The Conversation, 13 Jan. 2025
Adjective
  • My question: Was there any way to have prevented this rude woman from stealing away all of my guests? GENTLE READER: Counter-questions: Did the boss and his wife drop the guests off before the emergency furniture move?
    Judith Martin, Sun Sentinel, 5 Apr. 2025
  • Really, any movie exceeding 100 minutes in this genre is just plain rude.
    Jordan Crucchiola, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2025
Adjective
  • The Europeans were enchanted by the expressive fluency that the New York critics had considered vulgar.
    David Denby, The Atlantic, 1 Apr. 2025
  • The chief spoke at the LAPD’s Police Commission weekly meeting Tuesday, a day after news broke that officers from the department’s recruitment and employment division had been unknowingly recorded making vulgar comments, including while talking about police applicants.
    Libor Jany, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Churlish.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/churlish. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.

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